REVIEWS. 
303 
which even scientific men may cavil ; and there are others, and indeed whole 
essays, which are regarded by certain unscientific readers as utter abomina- 
tions, such as the discourses upon prayer and miracles, and the celebrated 
Belfast address ; but the dispassionate reader, if any such can be found, will 
discover that there is a good deal of truth in them, and that the views they 
open up are at all events worth consideration. The present edition contains 
several new articles, among which the most important seem to be those on 
Fermentation and Spontaneous Generation, and the reply to Professor 
Virchow’s commination of the Evolutionists. The author’s lecture on 
the Electric Light is also included. As these and other additions have 
caused a considerable increase of bulk, the book is now divided into two 
volumes. 
THE SEA-SHOBE.* 
T O the naturalist the sea-shore is so prolific of objects of interest, and the 
sea-side visitor is so often in want of something to interest him, that 
the constant crop of popular books describing, in more or less detail, the 
natural history of the sea need not excite much surprise. People can’t be 
always walking up and down the pier or the parade, or listening to indifferent 
brass bands ; and if the majority of those who try the natural history line 
don’t make much of it, their efforts, at any rate, can do them no harm. 
Hence we are inclined to welcome every fresh addition to the popular litera- 
ture of the shore, and we do this with particular satisfaction when the new- 
comer is the production of a good naturalist, and worthy of its parentage. 
The latest accession to littoral literature, if we may use such an expression, 
forms one of a series of small volumes published by the Society for Promot- 
ing Christian Knowledge, under the general title of “Natural History 
Hambies,” and is by Professor P. Martin Duncan, whose work, whether 
technically scientific or of a more popular character, is always good and 
sound. Taking as his title “ The Sea-Shore,” Dr. Duncan does not confine 
his attention to the marine plants and animals which may be picked up on 
the beach or found in rock-pools, but treats his subject from a broader point 
of view, so as to show in a general way all the directions in which sea-side 
rambles may be made interesting and instructive. Thus, by way of defining 
what is the sea-shore, he indicates the geological phenomena of shore-forma- 
tion, and passes from these to general considerations on the zones of life 
fringing our shores, and in a second chapter describes the characteristic 
terrestrial plants of the shore. In the latter part of this chapter, however, 
he gives an account of the true littoral sea-weeds ; and from this to the last 
chapter, which treats of the birds, we are throughout confined to the briny 
element. 
The subjects are arranged in systematic order, and the ten chapters relating 
to animal life furnish an excellent summary of marine zoology, in which the 
appearance, habits, structure, and physiology of the animals treated of are 
* “The Sea-Shore.” By Professor P. Martin Duncan, M.B. (Lond.), 
E.B.S. Sm. 8vo. London : Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 
1879. 
